Korea
by WritingforthoseReading
Summary: The founding of Korea, its many diplomatic encounters, golden ages, and disasters. This is the story of a one of my Civilization 5 games told in much more detail for somewhat of a storytelling aspect. This is my first published story,please criticize either to your standards and/or strictly.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first written story to be published for any and all to read. I have been waiting for both free and imaginative writing to come up in my studies, but so far, my requests and hopes have been in vain. So I will be writing here, just for the sake of getting these stories on record. Please criticize to your normal or strict standards, review, or praise, something to give me feedback. Thank you for reading.**

The few times a true leader has been confused are the times when history is made, and outcomes are nearly always decided. This is one such time. One man remembers such a time, and his name is Sejong.

Sejong only can describe it as popping into existence. His language floods his mind, and he knows of all things a basic education can teach. He feels something soft on his skin, a resemblance towards water, yet solid and dry. Glancing down, he realizes it is a fabric of sorts, some kind of..what would he call it? Ah, _clothing._ He should have known straight away. A civilized man's attire for the day should feel familiar. Realizing that basic motor functions were unimpeded for the moment, Sejong gets to his feet. A noise that can only be known as shuffling feet reaches his ears. Turning quickly, Sejong becomes affiliated with something we know today as _Déjà vu. _He sees people with a faint red tinge to their clothing, and they're separated into two groups. One group contains people in rather excessive clothing, with the females wearing what looked like many layers of thick clothing, while the men wore everyday laboring clothes. Most of the women carried baskets, while men had a sack slung over their back. With them were exotic creatures which we know as mules, carrying quite a load of equipment, tools strung across the sides of bags, which in turn were strapped upon the mule's backsides.

The second group was purely male, with nothing other than sticks with rocks jammed either to the top or through the middle. Crude, but Sejong presumed that they would be very effective in bloodying someone up in a melee fight. These men had rather burly builds, with broad shoulders and very well muscled forearms. Their expressions said everything about their feelings, even though they would learn to conceal them later. First were expressions of confusion and observation. Then were they recognition, determination, and a little bit of fear thrown in the mix. Sejong observed similar expressions on the faces of the travelers, and got the feeling that they were all meant to be here, or were seriously lost. Sejong assumed it was the former.

Deciding to be the leader he was meant to be, Sejong addressed them all as people he was familiar with, to hopefully soothe any feelings of either anxiety or hostility towards a man whom had suddenly appeared in their midst. Or had they appeared together? Sejong wanted that to be answered as soon as possible. But now was not quite the time for 20 questions.

"Gentlemen and ladies, I realize that you are confused about this whole affair, and I must admit, as am I. But do not fret, I feel a resolution can be agreed upon. You all seem to have an affiliation with the start of something. It is clearly displayed upon your attire, and your items. The many things I do not know, I wish to be answered. I will consult a few of you once I know more about you and the situation. But for now, I feel a shelter is advisable, as something tells me it is to be. Whether it is instinct or some higher being, I cannot know as of yet. We can make a.. a settlement. We will survive to tell this tale to the unborn millions which may depend on your decisions. Let us settle here, and prosper while we can."

The people applauded Sejong, and he felt that something was just accomplished thanks to a few big words and quick thinking. And, Sejong felt that a minor weight was lifted from his shoulders, as though he had just initiated the progress of something big.

The settlement group had managed to pitch a few tents before nightfall, but they needed laborers to establish anything bigger than some hovels and a fire. The 'Warrior' group was huddled around the fire, chatting about any manner of things, of which Sejong had no intention of interrupting. The people needed to get used to him being the one to take charge of the worst situations, and that was no way to get them anymore comfortable than they already are. So, Sejong lay his head upon a primitive wooden headrest, and resolved to let the minds of the people make their own changes for now. The rest, he would deal with the next day. Little did he know how strange the next day would be.


	2. Chapter 2

**I must note that the title of the first chapter was not intended to be named "Kore", as I had labeled it "Korea" in the publishing, however I may have missed a key in typing it and did not look to check, or it simply did not register input. I will be updating this story constantly and wish it to become a hobby of mine to improve on writing. This story will be changing POV from many characters of importance, and Sejong will not be the only person to tell it. Thanks for reading, constructive and detailed criticism is greatly appreciated.**

Some time later, a man in the 'Warrior' unit had fallen into a state of unconciousness, and some travelers realized that the man whom had given the speech had also succumb to a similar state, and many presumed them dead. However, to all their relief after a night of panicked looks and chewing fingernails, they woke from the state and merely said that they were tired.

The warrior's name was Jaehyeon, who described a similar experience to what Sejong had felt in first arriving here with the settlement group. Asking around the camp, Jaehyeon soon learned that all of them had nearly the exact same feeling of suddenly 'popping' into existence. The settlement group had picked a select few from their own to become the first worker unit. They were to do anything that benefited the settlement, such as creating crop fields, quarrying hills, something for resources to improve the camp's current (and limited) housing.

Jaehyeon had been sitting on grass merely asking himself questions of why he was here, at the camp for some time, when Sejong approached him. He wore a strange expression, like curiousity mixed with distrust. Sejong then sat opposite him, and immediately started talking. "I take it you are either bored or anxious, and I know of a task that can releive of one of those things, and another profession if you'd prefer to stay this way. Either way, I need you to do something on all our behalf." Jaehyeon was intrigued, and questioned him further: " What kind of profession? I would take a guess at something relating to..out _there._" He gestured towards a distant jungle, which hefted so thick a canopy that little sunlight could permeate even the first leaves. Sejong nodded and proceeded to explain the job. "You will be going out there and drawing whatever you see. We both know it will be dangerous, and you need three things. Pen, papyrus, and survival instinct. Without at least those three, you are sure to die, but you will have contributed to taking in our surroundings, and even have seen some sort of attack on the camp, and brought the knowledge to our ears."

Jaehyeon taken aback at this. How was he supposed to carry the responsibility of all the camp's knowledge of the outside world when he could barely heft his bag of belongings? Sejong then saw his expression, and told him of the other profession. "Your second option is staying with your group of warriors, and I will be leaving you in command of them, under the condition that you obey any and all orders given by me or relayed from me. You will be exploring as well, but not quite as far out as the jungle." Jaehyeon knew he would have to make a choice, and it was not the easiest one. He could stay with his friends in the group of warriors and heroically defend the settlement, or discover wondrous things beyond the bordering jungle.

Sejong knew that this was not the greatest decision to be brought into at the man's moment of leisure, and said: "I require that you have decided in one week. That is, seven times that darkness comes and passes. If you decide beforehand, come see me. Thank you for considering this."

Jaehyeon was almost torn. His friends would miss him and only hear of his grand adventures, or they could be there and experience it themselves, but something might happen to the group one day, a horrific argument may tear the group apart and get them all killed. These possibilities and conflicts raged on in Jaehyeon's mind, while he sat on the grass, unaware of the shouting and screaming that emanated from the crest of a nearby hill.

Others in the warrior group were immediately paranoid, and all gathered their weapons in preparation for whatever may come. The shouting sounded vaguely tortured, and a light could be seen bobbing and weaving around the hill. Someone in the camp screamed, and another shouted, "OUTSIDERS!" The warriors started towards the hill in hopes of finding out exactly what the term was being attributed to. And they answered the question relatively quickly.

The light was a torch being flailed wildly through the air around as someone screamed what sounded like a battle cry. The figures loomed down upon the camp, and the warriors could clearly see that these figures were not on the hygienic side of things. Their primitive clubs were dirty, hair and robes matted and torn, and drooling slightly looking down at the camp, as if ready to swallow the people down there whole.

The term 'barbarians' would be applied later, but for now, the 'outsiders' looked upon the camp with distaste, and they soon screamed wildly and charged down the hill. The warrior group would be the first to meet them. The outsiders had no designated fighting style, as they merely flailed and seemed to react on pure instinct. The warrior group easily dropped them with fatal clubbing blows to the neck, chest, head, or crippled them by smacking their leg and later returning to kill them. One was kept alive to be interrogated later, and Sejong himself would be asking the questions. In the aftermath of the laughably one-sided attack, only one man in the warrior group was seriously wounded, while all the outsiders were dispatched, crippled, or had fled for the hill.

Jaehyeon was completely unaware of the attack until he heard screaming, and he quickly gathered himself, still half in his reverie of the professions-talk. He had arrived to the scene to dispatch three outsiders, and defend two of his friends from blows to the side. The group thanked him for at least showing up, joking that it had taken Jaehyeon long enough.

Sejong knew that he would be there, with the last outsider, and asking what the meaning of the attack was. But somehow, he doubted it would be produce any good answers, no matter the means he used to get them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Third chapter was delayed slightly thanks to my studies and the holiday shopping coming up, but I hope to delay this no longer than 4 days at maximum. Sadly, this chapter will be shorter than the others so far. Again, constructive and/or strict criticism is always appreciated.**

Sejong had a makeshift prison constructed in the center of the camp for the prisoner almost immediately, as the laborers lined up to make one better than the next guy in line. The concept of mental torture hadn't entered Sejong's mind yet, but it intrigued him as a way to get answers from less 'cooperative' people, like another group such as Sejong's. The outsider was clearly not pleased with the living arrangements as he was unceremoniously strung by grass fiber to a wooden plank surrounded by spiked logs, sharpened by the very stones that had subdued the outsider.

One man from the warrior unit was to keep him restrained against the plank, as hardened walls to keep in prisoners had not been proposed by anybody, much less made. The outsider made no attempt to communicate with the guard standing a few meters between him and freedom, and he merely groaned for food or beverages about four times a day. No passersby had even acknowledged that the outsider was there in the center of camp, scowling darkly at the dirt.

The day came for Sejong to question the outsider of his intentions on charging the camp and its people. Sejong looked warily at the camp's fire, which had temporarily shifted positions to make way for the prisoner's few meters of isolation. The fire didn't tell Sejong anything, it just warmed him and the occasional breeze blew the smoke into his face, forcing him to shut his eyes from the foul air. Jaehyeon sat across the fire, opposite to Sejong, and witha pang, he suddenly recognized Sejong's expression, as he had seen it the very first time they had conversed. It was one of anxiety and mild fear, but also excitement at the possibility of wondrous truths being told by somebody about as trustworthy as a snake, and then venturing out to prove them real.

"What do you think?" Jaehyeon began. "About the outsider and his demeanor, I mean." "I don't know what to make of it. It is riddled with lies and anger, but his attitude intrigues me. The few times he has spoken are when he must express a cause of bodily distress, but I have yet to hear whisper or wind of its mental counterpart," Sejong replied. "Then I suppose we'll have to find out in a bit," said Jaehyeon. "In the meantime, I'm going to see what the others in the labor unit have been up to."

Sejong nodded at this, and watched Jaehyeon walk to one of the nearby shelters momentarily, before looking back to the fire, pondering how he should go about the retrieval of the answers he wanted so badly. Yet again, the fire provided no answer to the unheard thoughts swirling in Sejong's head.

To say the outsider was secretly pissed is an understatement. He was trying ridiculously hard not to snap the neck of all passersby and his guard, regardless of whether or not he was restrained, and even then he was barely suppressing a scream of rage. All he could do to keep those two complications inside was to look at the dirt and scowl. His condition was poor, to say the least. His hygeine had been severely neglected since the day he had gained feeling of his own body, he had bruises everywhere and a rib fracture, his testosterone levels were to the point that it was potentially lethal to his health had he not been bleeding it out the entire time, but that hardly compensated for his throbbing head and anger, and for the quick work the 'civilized' people had made of what _he_ thought a lethal melee fighting force.

And all those things add to a sum of '_really_ pissed barbarian looking for some payback.'

Sejong had come to the eventual conclusion that the outsider was to be punished physically for every question he refused to answer, even to the point of death if need be. Horrible, yes, but to answer the hardest questions the simplest way, you had to make sacrifices. Sejong assumed that this was enough to justify the gore the camp would be witnessing for only one day at the most. He would apologize profusely for the incident, but state that it had to be done to know what to expect in the coming time.

**Not quite to the action yet, but I hope this is enough to keep you by while I work on the next one. Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Procrastination like a boss. Sorry for the wait, more action in this chapter: Thanks for reading, constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

Sejong strode out of his little shelter, refreshed from sleep, but grim thoughts on his mind. The shelter consisted of a piece of fabric hung on a support structure of twigs. He had woken with a somewhat sore back, but no matter. Health shouldn't get in the way of answers unless absolutely necessary. Jaehyeon was also up early, sitting on the grass and staring into a just-lit fire. He noticed that Sejong was going somewhere obviously fast, and he quickly walked to meet him, stopping him just short of the outsider's prison. "Sejong, this man was probably doing all that he knows how to do, charging the settlement. We can't simply...ask him questions and potentially kill him each time he says something slightly off topic." Sejong paused to stare into Jaehyeon's eyes, which were filled with desperation and sympathy. "We have little time to contemplate what his intentions or his knowledge is limited to..." Sejong stopped there. What if the outsider knew nothing of his mere existence, and was just doing the only thing he knew how to? Jaehyeon would be right on that point. It may be all for nothing, with the ousider's blood on his hands for allowing the torture to proceed.

"Very well, know you have my word on the outsider never being physically abused any more than he already has. But also know that you poison your reputation should he turn to violence to stop the questions." Jaehyeon nodded. He had been contemplating his options while near the fire, both on stopping the outsider's punishment, and on which group to choose to go with, because either way, he was going out to wilderness with someone, and there was nothing he could do within reason to stop that.

Sejong could not break his word. As a leader, setting an example of lies and ruthlessness was not the way he wanted his people to go. Who knew what repurcussions an incident like that may have on the future, even if there was one for much longer?

A loud wailing brought Sejong out of his reverie. It sounded unnatural, but his mood immediately softened. He was approached by one of the settlement group, a female. She cradled something in her arms, and it seemed to be the source of the wails, though they had been silenced as soon as he met eyes with the woman. She walked slowly towards him, and stopped once Sejong could discern her eye color quite clearly. "Look at this little bundle of joy!" She quietly exclaimed. Sejong peered into the depths of the fabric bundle curiously, and saw a baby for the first time. Something new. The baby cuddled the fabric like that was the only thing that mattered. Sejong supposed that lack of decent attention span happened to do that, but he didn't dare say that aloud.

Very shortly after observing the baby, a man from the warrior unit approached Sejong as well. "Sir, our unit has spotted someone, or some_thing_ else beyond the trees. And they don't look like our outsider friend in camp." He said all of this peering over his shoulder at the hill just beyond the camp, where the outsiders had charged from, before their defeat. Sejong also looked there, unsure of what the man meant. "All I need to know is this: What does it mean for us? For the camp?" Sejong inquired. The man replied with probably the most dramatic thing he could come up with on the spot: "Something new, sir."

Sejong strode towards a warrior standing at the edge of the settlement, who was squinting into the treeline, probably trying to discern any telltale sign of ousiders. "Warrior, what does he mean by 'something new' beyond the trees?" The warrior turned quickly, gestured towards the trees at his back, and said, "Like our people, Sejong. But they certainly don't look like us, and they don't have the unhygienic looks like the previous outsiders."

This didn't sound good at all, and Sejong had to admit to himself that he was unnerved, to say the least. New people that weren't outsiders, but weren't more of the settlement group? Sounded like a bad encounter if Sejong had ever heard one. Sejong then proceeded to explain what he wanted to happen, should this be any more than an outsider encounter. "I want half of the unit inside those trees. No hostile moves if you encounter anything, we don't want to look like outsiders ourselves. Should you meet anyone like _us_, I want to be notified and admitted to their leader immediately." Sejong wanted everything orderly. If this happened like he thought it would, everything could potentially spiral out of control, and it would be the end of him to see the group destroyed before his very eyes.

At this, the warrior then started to sprint towards his fellow warriors to convey the plan. Sejong turned to the trees, and to his horror, figures partially emerged from them, seemingly melting from the leaves. Primitive camouflage. Their vaguely human stature yet strange appearance unnerved him to the point that he was frozen in place, but he would not let that show. Some of the warriors must have taken notice of the movement, because he heard several sudden shouts behind him, and then came the rumble of footsteps beside him. The unit then formed a semi-circle close to Sejong, and dug their feet into the ground, should they suddenly need to move.

The figures must have noticed the movement, but they then started forward, and one figure stood out prominently among the group. The arms of the figure seemingly draped to the ground, probably a fabric much like Sejong was wearing. The sunlight hit the figure quite suddenly upon fully emerging from the trees, and Sejong then assumed that it must be a woman, albeit very different from the women Sejong knew at the camp. She had much more pale skin than anyone Sejong had seen, even from the malnourished outsider in camp. It must be something artificial. She wore a draping sort of clothing much like Sejong currently wore, as he had predicted. The woman also had somewhat pink cheeks as well, and he then was almost positive that something artificial had changed her features. She walked with a confidence, like nothing could touch her. The figures remaining in the trees emerged fully now, and followed the woman in her wake. She stopped walking just short of Sejong's escort, and Sejong then ordered them to step down. "But sir, she could easily attack an open target!" Sejong merely shot him a warning look. They whispered, but complied.

The woman then spoke to Sejong in a very strange strange way, unlike anything Sejong had heard. Maybe it was their language? As soon as this thought had entered his mind, he could understand what she was saying perfectly, with the strange quality of someone talking into his ear. "..We welcome peace with you, however, Qin seeks to persue its own development. You leave us alone, we'll leave you alone. Should a conflict arise, do not doubt that I will ensure it is the last, one way or another."

"Qin?" Sejong did not, however, understand what that meant. "It is how we refer to our own group," the woman answered patiently. She must have understood him as well. "Your name?" She asked. "Sejong, leader of my settlement. Yours?" He replied. "Wu Zetian, leader of my own organization as well. A pleasure to meet you, but I must ask why the hostile demeanor." Sejong looked embarassedly around at the warrior group now hanging onto every word, but clubs still clutched tight in their hands. "I must apologize, but we have had a run-in with more hostile forces who charged before we could even discern the whites of their eyes. Should we meet again, I can promise more formalities rather than hostilities."

"Well, I cannot blame you for wanting to protect the settlement while it is still developing. Thank you for talking rather than fighting, as one group has already tried and failed miserably so," Wu Zetian replied. Sejong was struck with this question in mind: Wait, whom? If they were outsiders, Sejong didn't mind it, but should it be more groups like their own, it may become a conflict of interests. And Wu Zetian had already vowed to make one conflict their last, and so far, any conflict at all had ended in bloodshed.

"Again, a pleasure meeting you, Sejong. May we prosper in peace." Wu Zetian turned and strode back to the treeline, where her escort awaited. Now out of what could've been a disaster, Sejong breathed a sigh of relief. "A problem, sir?" One of the warriors asked. Sejong turned to him, and quickly told him: "Tell the labor group that they are to work on proper shelters, with walls and a stable roof, have the best builder design new concepts for them, and I want walls outside the camp. Our future has taken a turn, be it for better or worse, I do not know. So prepare for the worst."

With that, he turned and walked at a brisk pace back to his shelter.


End file.
